The Alternate
by Raina Wolfe - Lateraina
Summary: [Complete] When Danny's ghost hunting becomes too much, Sam goes cold. So Danny decides to get rid of his powers to make her happy...but their troubles aren't over yet.
1. The Dark Knight

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Chapter One

The Dark Knight

"Come on Danny, my feet are killing me, can't we go home?" Tucker whined for nearly the billionth time.

"We would have been able to if you hadn't of dropped the thermos, _again_!" Sam shouted back.

Above their hands came a sudden "shhh!" and they hid behind a rusty, smelly dumpster. The alley was abandoned and pitch black and it was nearly midnight. They hadn't even finished their homework let alone battled ghosts with their paranormal friend. But they had been walking around the darkness for about three hours.

"Danny, what is it?" Sam whispered. Danny had gone intangible, but they searched everywhere for him anyways.

There was no reply. Pushing back her black hair from her eyes, Sam sighed. Now that they were at last exhausted, there was a ghost to fight.

"Danny? Hello?!" Tucker shouted.

"Tucker shut up," Sam whispered. Her violet eyes were nearly forcing themselves to close and the only reason she had not to fall asleep right then and there was the safety of her friend and the care taking of Tucker, the naïve.

"Sam, where did he go?" Tucker asked, snapping Sam from her thoughts.

"He went intangible remember?" she snapped, looking into the sky.

"Oh, yeah," Tucker said. He remembered the great feeling of being able to become nothing; it had been fun....for a while until he had turned on Danny. But it had been nearly four weeks since then.

"BOO!" Shouted someone behind them. Tucker and Sam both screamed bloody murder and flipped around.

"Danny, oh, you—"Sam began, panting.

Danny stood behind them, laughing his head off. Sam was lost for words, still shaken, and Tucker was laughing along with his friend.

"That was good, Danny. Got to admit. Did you hear Sam scream?" He slapped Danny's silver gloved hand.

"Yeah, but she has an excuse for screaming like a girl," Danny said, still laughing.

As Tucker gave him a dark look, Sam found her voice at last.

"Danny that wasn't funny," she said.

Danny tried to look at his gothic best friend without laughing but couldn't pull it off. As he burst into laughter, he was rewarded with a playful punch on the arm.

"Ow." With ease, he turned back into his normal self. Jet black hair and blue eyes. He had been getting used to changing back and forth now that there were more ghosts around lately.

"Oh, I didn't hit you that hard," Sam gasped as he changed.

"Hey, I turned on free will thanks," he said. Usually he only changed back on accident when he was badly injured.

"Yeah, whatever Danny," she said, smiling.

"Hey, love birds can we go home now?" Tucker whined.

As Sam looked menacingly towards Tucker, who took a step back in mock fear, the overhead light went off.

All three jumped.

"Well, that was nice," Danny said. He couldn't see a thing in the dark and was suddenly afraid of what might be lurking in the dark. He slapped himself in the head, knowing that they couldn't see him. He was Danny Phantom. The halfa boy. He shouldn't be afraid of the dark. He should be worrying about the other lives at stake. The lives that he cared about...the lives that didn't have to worry about having powers, or battling ghosts, or saving lives....

"Let's go back shall we?" Tucker said.

Sam and Danny grunted in reply. But before they had even taken a step, Danny gasped.

A blue colored stream of air came from his mouth, lighting the only way for a millisecond. Icy jets of coldness spread throughout his body.

"Danny-"Tucker warned.

"I'll take care of it guys, you go on home," he said, shivering.

"Danny, we can help," Sam pleaded as darkness fell again.

"Yeah," Tucker agreed (not a common event).

He couldn't see his friends' faces, and knew they were set on determined, but even if he sent them away, they would come to help him anyways.

"Fine. Just stay out of trouble." He didn't want to sound rude, but he didn't want them hurt.

With Danny leading, Tucker and Sam tiptoed, following him.

A green light shot out of nowhere, missing Danny's head by a centimeter. He looked forward, alert, while Sam and Tucker ducked.

The ghost moved forward and Danny heard his friends gasp at the sight.

He traveled on a deathly dark red horse with glowing red eyes and carried a glowing sword and shield. It looked like a knight, except for his faint yellow-green aura.

Gracefully, he lifted his glowing sword and pointed it straight at Danny. Danny dived quickly as an icy blue light shot from the tip.

But not quick enough. It barely nicked the top of his foot. Danny fell to the ground and twisted around fast.

It wasn't broken, but he couldn't move it. Immense cold spread throughout his body rapidly. It was some kind of freezing energy light.

"Danny, are you okay?" Sam shouted, rushing to him.

"Tucker, hurry give me the thermos!" Danny said, feeling the cold reaching towards his chest.

Tucker ran over and tossed him the thermos and with difficulty, Danny turned it on. He could already feel his shoulders become numb with freezing cold.

"Say bye-bye sir knight," Tucker joked as the ghost was caught.

The knight swirled inside the daze, but jumped off. His horse was sucked into the thermos, and he remained.

"Paderaina! You're mine now child!" the Knight said with a British accent.

"No!" Sam said, standing up furiously.

He pointed his sword at Sam, who stood firm. Suddenly the thermos reopened and the Knight swirled inside.

Sam turned around, with Tucker's help; Danny was getting him into the thermos.

Before the Knight was sucked into the thermos, he pointed his sword threateningly at Sam and a dark red light shot into Sam, who fell onto the ground.

Danny slammed on the thermos lid, and was automatically relieved of his coldness. He and Tucker ran to where Sam still lay on the ground.

"Sam, ya' alright?" Tucker asked.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm okay." She sat up with difficulty.

"Who was that?" Tucker asked to no one in particular.

"A Knight...a brave knight..." Sam replied, her eyes glazed. When Tucker and Danny looked at her strangely, she said, "Well, it's true."

"What did he do to her?" Tucker asked.

"Probably hit her head with like memory blast," Danny suggested.

"I just feel really hot," she said, standing up.

"Look, he left his sword behind," Tuck said.

"I'll keep it at my house, maybe send it for the Box Ghost to keep," Danny said, laughing as he picked it up.

"How about I take it? I mean, my parents won't ask any questions right?" Sam said.

"Good point." Danny handed it to her. "What?" Sam was looking at him weird.

"Nothing," she said, sounding almost angry. She grabbed the sword from him and held it possessively.

"Sure you okay Sam?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Lay off," she said.

"Can we go home now?"

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Danny drifted in later that night into his bedroom, exhausted. Fighting that ghost and nearly getting beat like a lot of times lately, had taken a lot out of him.

The room was dark, but he could still make out his astronomy and NASA posters on the wall. If he wasn't dead by the time he was twenty, he wanted to become an astronaut.

At that moment the door burst open and someone walked in.

"JAZZ! What are you doing?" Danny threw himself onto the bed and pulled the covers over his head. He hadn't turned back into his norm and the bright blue lights would give him away if he did now.

"Danny, did you take my Geography book?" his red haired sister asked, absentmindedly turning on the light. "I need it by next Thurs- what are you doing?"

"Looking for a gun to shoot myself. What does it look like I'm doing? You turned on the light and I was asleep. I'm trying to get the light out of my eyes. Why are you up this late?"

"I have a History test to study for next Monday."

"That's in a week and a day, why don't you wait until next Sunday to study?" he said, making sure his white hair was completely covered.

"Because, I'm not lazy," she said. "Danny, why is it so cold in here?"

He tried to hide the quiver in his voice. Being half ghost had its disadvantages like being cold every single moment and usually chilling others.

"I had the window open."

"It's winter. It's -2 degrees outside."

"Yeah, well I was hot," Danny replied annoyed. "Your book isn't in here. Can you leave now?"

"Yes. I suppose. But if you took it I swear.... Goodnight Danny. And...Danny?" she began.

"What Jazz?" he asked.

"Be careful."

He had no idea what that meant. She turned off the light and closed the door behind her.

He crawled out of the sheets and turned into his human self. That was close. Last week's experience with Spectra had been close too. Jazz had been close to becoming a ghost with him. But he had saved the day for once.

After changing, he climbed into bed and graciously went to sleep.

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Jazz hadn't been looking for her geography book. She had been waiting for him. She knew he had gone because he had declared to his parents around nine that he was "going to bed early."

It had only been a week ago since she had discovered his secret. However, she didn't think that he knew she knew. Ever since then, she had been watching him and noticed many things that she didn't notice before. Like when her parents started talking about a new ghost invention that would help locate or attack or hunt down or whatever, Danny became extremely uneasy. Or that he seemed to just appear sometimes, or when he got nervous, a part of or all of him would disappear; or angry, his eyes seemed to glow green. Now everything weird that had ever happened since his accident made sense; his pants falling down, his friends' concerns and mysteries, his midnight sneak outs, his short-term locker problem, his sudden exhaustion and injuries. She still had yet to figure out how he come so close to seeing the gorilla without getting killed when no one else but Sam and other environmental people dared to.

She worried about her brother and she knew she shouldn't. Danny was fourteen; he probably had no problems taking care of himself.

Tonight she had the perfect excuse to go in his room, after hours of listening in the next room for movement noises. Finally, around one o'clock, she heard someone walking around, and burst into the room.

Her eyes had been adjusted to the dark, but she pretended to be fooled anyway when her brother had covered himself up with his blue bed sheets. She had seen the edges of his spiky white hair. She hadn't figured out exactly how he could do it, but he could turn into a ghost.

She had pretended to look for her geography book, and had seen him every once in a while peek out from underneath the covers. But after satisfying herself, left with her evidence.

Her brother, even with all of his weirdness, was a hero. He had saved her, and probably others, too. She would just have to wait until he gave up and told him.

"Goodnight Danny," she whispered to the dark room.


	2. The New Girl

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Chapter Two

The New Girl

"Ms. Manson are you alright?" Maddie Fenton asked, jerking from her sleep. The rest of the family stood behind her, dazed. It was nearly four o'clock in the morning, and they had all been awakened to booming knocks on their front door and repeated rings on the loud doorbell.

Sam's grandmother stood outside the door, still in her nightgown, shivering in the freezing morning.

"Come in, we'll get you warm," Maddie offered, taking the old woman by the hand and leading her to the couch. "Jack would you get some blankets?"

Rushing up the stairs, he listened and went to get the blankets.

"Ms. Manson, what's wrong?"

"It's Samantha. I went to check on her and she wasn't in her room. Have you seen her Daniel?"

Danny usually hated it when people used his real name, but it wasn't important. Danny went pale. Sam was missing. It had only been a couple of hours ago when he had said goodbye to her at her house. She had insisted they leave her alone because she was tired, and so Tucker and he had gone home.

He shook his head, unable to speak. His best friend. What if some ghost had gotten to her? What if they were torturing her right now?

He felt a hand on his shoulder and nearly fell off the couch arm. Jazz stood behind him, looking encouraging.

"I called the police and they're out looking for her, but they haven't found anyone yet. Her parents are in Paris and I doubt she went there. I thought maybe she'd come over to Daniel's. She's so secretive...."

Danny fought the urge to rush outside and start screaming her name. Jazz was looking at his arm oddly. It had totally disappeared. He grimaced and shoved it quickly underneath the couch pillow. When he looked back, Jazz had turned away.

"I- I think I'm going to go to my room," Danny stammered. Jack returned with the blankets and passed one out to Sam's grandmother.

"Danny- alright, sweetie, you may go," his mother replied, reluctantly.

He rushed upstairs. Angrily, he ran in his room and went ghost boy. Fading past the house, he searched the whole night through for his friend.

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Jazz watched her brother storm up the stairs. He looked so lost, so desperate. She knew what he was going to do. He was going to turn himself into his half ghost self and then go looking all over for Sam.

She hated seeing him like this..... Maybe she could find a way to help.

"Ms. Manson, why don't you stay here for tonight, Jack and I will go and look for Samantha," Maddie said.

"Jazz will stay here, won't you?" Jack said.

Jazz had no choice but to say yes. She wanted to help Danny, to comfort her young, troubled brother, but her chance was lost now.

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"Danny, it's time for school, Tucker's here. Are you alright sweetie?" his mother called from outside his bedroom door.

He sat on the edge of his bed, head in hand. He had been searching all night. All he had wound up with was exhaustion and body pain.

"Daniel?"

"I'm coming mom," he said. He pulled on his backpack and walked out, ignoring his mother's worried expression.

"Hey, Danny," Tucker greeted him warily.

"Hey, any word?" he asked.

"No." They spent the walk to school in silence. Danny wouldn't care if a ghost attacked right now. He wanted his friend back. They reached the school in chaos.

"What's going on here?" Tucker asked.

"I don't know," Danny replied miserably.

Boys whistled and girls gossiped the whole way in. Danny kept hearing words like "new", "pretty," "popular," and "girl." He didn't have anything to do with the popular crowd as Dash Baxter constantly reminded him, so he didn't care.

Danny spent the day in a whirlwind. He was so tired, but wouldn't go to sleep. All he could think about was Sam. He put his books in his locker, daydreaming.

Her laugh...her smile....her wicked sense of humor....

"Hey, Danny, did you get the Bio homework, people talked to me the whole day, so I missed it," a girl said.

He pulled his head out of his locker, recognizing the voice. A violet eyed girl stood leaning above him, smiling. She had on white tennis shoes, blue jeans with flowered patterns, a pink shirt with a red heart in the middle, big silver hoop earrings, and her black hair was pulled into a short bun with a few strands curled around her face....her familiar face.

"Hello, Danny? Is there something on my face?" she said.

Danny blinked and then gasped.

"Dude what's up?" Tucker said, coming up behind him. He too suddenly noticed the new girl.

"Sam?!?" Tucker gasped, clutching himself.

"What? What the heck is your problem?" Sam asked, her hands on her hips.

Danny stood there in shock. This couldn't be his best friend. The girl who could really care less about anything else but environmental and animal problems, vegetables, and ghosts?

Danny's ghost sense kicked in suddenly. He would have to make up later, and he regretted it. Sam was found...but different.

Tucker didn't see anything, but Sam looked at him weird again.

"Where have you been?" Tucker asked.

"Oh, I was just driving around for a while," she replied. "I snuck into the mall and got myself a new look." She never took her eyes off of Danny.

Danny backed away, shivering. Something was wrong. This wasn't Sam.

"Hey Tucker, Sam, I'll m-meet you later okay?" He ran off in the other direction.

"What's his problem?" Sam asked.

"Hello? Everybody's been searching for you for like....all night," Tucker said.

"Oh really, I didn't notice. Where'd Danny go?"

"I don't know."

"Well, let's go find out then."

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_They don't even miss you do they, lady? The boy backed up like he wasn't even interested anymore. There's something different about him. What is he?  
Get out, please. I'll never tell you._

_ Then I guess I'll find out...._

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Danny ran inside the boys' bathroom, breathing hard. That wasn't Sam. Whoever it was, he didn't know. She must have been attacked by a ghost.

The light that went inside of her.....the one the knight had sent. It must have really been a memory blaster. But how did she know his name..?

It explained everything. Danny had to get the sword away from her. He had to sneak in later today. But then again he wanted to watch her.

His ghost sense kicked on again and he heard voices coming from outside. Sam and Tucker were walking down the hall talking.

"Shouldn't we be looking for Danny?" Tucker asked.

"That's what we're doing, but I was just wondering."

"Well, you know, Danny and all of his ghost troubles, of course he's a little strange once in a while. We've known that since he told us remember?"

"I wonder what really happened that day..." she said.

Danny remembered all too well.

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_"Hey, Danny, how was school today?" Maddie Fenton asked him when he walked down the stairs leading to the lab. She and Jack were placing an octagon shaped doorway on the wall._

_ "Fine. What are you guys doing exactly?" he had asked._

_ Of course Jack answered excitedly first. "This is our latest invention. It a doorway that leads into the ghost zone. Ghosts can come in, ghosts can come out. But this will be the greatest invention ever. It will prove that there are real ghosts."_

_ "Right," Danny muttered under his breath. His parents were totally obsessed with this new ghost stuff. Danny was a little too old to believe in ghosts, but he still thought it was cool occasionally._

_ "What do you think Danny?" Maddie asked, positively beaming._

_ "It's cool," Danny said with mock interest._

_ "You can be the first witness to try it out," Jack said._

_ "I can be what?"_

_ "Oh, come on, it won't hurt you," Maddie said._

_ "Just stand right there so you don't get hit by the beams," Jack joked._

_ "He's kidding Danny," Maddie assured her nervous son._

_ Jack pulled up an extension cord and plug.  
"Ready?" He asked Maddie. Danny closed his eyes and Jack plugged it in._

_ Nothing happened._

_ Maddie tried it again. Pulled it out and then plugged it back in._

_ "Another experiment failed. Come on Jack, let's go work on the calculations again," Maddie said, depressed. Taking a crying Jack by the hand, she led him upstairs, leaving the machine plugged in._

_ Danny stood still relieved that it hadn't blown up. Curiously, while his parents were upstairs, he walked towards the entrance of the new experiment._

_ "Well no wonder it didn't work, this part has to be plugged in," Danny said to himself. His dad had probably forgotten about it. _

_ The plug was lying there on the floor and Danny picked it up and reached for the outlet. "Hey, Mom! Dad! I found the pro-"He plugged it in._

_ The lights around him shut off abruptly._

_ "Uh-oh...."he said, backing off. He tripped on the cord and leaned on the wall for support. "Oops." He laid his hand on the wall and accidentally pushed a green button._

_ Lightning and electricity flashes danced around him and his last vision was the green button with the word "On" written on it._

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"Well, all I know is that is was an accident and he just somehow became half ghost. Ghost powers are cool, but I'd prefer to be good if I get them again. I will be like a ghost sidekick for Danny. He's had more practice than I have," Tucker said.

"You two are ghosts?"

"No, I was once. Remember the wishing ghost Desiree? But Danny's the one with ghost powers, remember?" Tucker said.

"Really?"

"Man that ghost really hit you hard with something, huh?" Tucker said.

"What? Oh, yeah," her voice faded off as they walked farther down the hall.

He opened the door and walked out into the middle of the hall. He'd heard enough evidence that he was right. Making sure there was nobody around, he changed into his ghost form and flew out of the school and to Sam's house.


	3. Broken

Thanks for all who reviewed, you're totally awesome! Also, I have another story coming soon!

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Chapter Three

Broken

Stalking into Sam's room, Danny floated in and searched for the sword. Under her enormous bed, her huge, booming speakers, her tall chests and closets. He couldn't find it anywhere.

His ghost sense ticked him and he whirled around, looking in all directions, his fists curled, ready to fight.

"Looking for this?" said a voice.

"How did you get here?" Danny said, jumping. Sam had the sword in her hands and was twirling it around in short little circles.

"I followed you, is that a problem?"

"No, I just didn't figure you the type to ever skip school."

"Yeah, well I've changed."

"I've noticed."

She walked closer to him. "You'd be surprised at how much people like me. They think I'm pretty Danny. I'm not the Goth geek anymore. I'm popular."

"You have changed. You used to not care about popularity. You didn't care."

"And you know what the funny thing is Danny?" She was directly in front of him and his green eyes met her violet ones.

"What?"

She grabbed him by the shoulders roughly and threw him with unnatural strength against the wall.

"You thought you could stop me."

Danny slammed hard against the wall and slid down onto the floor. White flashes danced in his eyes. His head pounded.

"Looks like Danny Phantom is a little bit too trustworthy of thy friends," she said in a strange British accent.

"You're the knight," he said, his vision blurring a little.

"Big shock. I was just wondering how long it was exactly going to take you to figure that one out." Her eyes changed to an eerie vivid green.

"Too bad; I'm not exactly an A student." He stood up with difficulty.

"Hey, did I say you could get up? I don't think so." She placed the sword's tip on his throat. He didn't dare move.

"Is the half ghost afraid? You're nothing but a coward. Too scared to be a real hero. Isn't that why they call you a loser?"

Danny thought he was over being called a loser. But angry feelings swarmed inside his head.

"Well, this _loser _has powers," he said, raising his hand. A green ball of light formed and he shot it towards the girl, hitting her, and at the same time, changing back into his human self.

Getting up of the floor easily, the Knight laughed.

Angry thoughts buzzed inside Danny. The Knight didn't deserve Sam's laugh . Didn't deserve Sam's body. Didn't deserve Sam's life.

Forgetting that he had changed back, Danny tackled Sam to the floor again, but stopped when he heard a voice.

"Hello? Anyone there?" shouted a girl's voice.

Danny got off of the girl and turned around, feeling the blood drain from his face. "Jazz-"he whispered.

"Danny? Why are you here? What's going on?" His red haired sister walked through the door.

"What are you doing here Jazz?" Danny asked.

"I brought some reinforcements," Sam said. Sure enough, a large suited man came in behind Jazz, holding back her arm.

"What's going on Danny?" Jazz cried. "I was just looking all over for you in the school, and Tucker didn't know where you were, and he came up and grabbed me and brought me here," she said, rambling.

He started towards his sister, but stopped when he felt a cold hand grasp his arm and the cold edge of the sword against his throat.

"Tell me how to get Paderaina out, and I'll let you and your sister go and you can stay the way you are, mister hero, or you can die, whichever you choose," the ghost in Sam threatened.

Danny stared at his sister hard. Jazz didn't know he had ghost powers. He knew she would tell his parents. But he didn't want her, especially her, hurt.

"Who is Paderaina?" Jazz asked, looking back and forth from Danny to Sam.

"My horse, deliver my horse, or the girl dies," Sam threatened, tightening her grip on Danny.

"Take her out of the room, and I'll do it," Danny replied desperately.

"Danny what is going on?" Jazz demanded, shouting.

"I'll- I'll....I'll tell you later..." he said.

"Oh , I see... Miss Big Sis doesn't know the little loser's secret... well...well...well..." Sam said, cackling.

Danny snapped. Whipping around he shoved Sam to the ground and heard Jasmine scream behind him. He didn't need his powers to defeat this.... He would use his own skills.

His eyes burned suddenly, changing from their normal pale blue, to a bright glowing green, but he couldn't calm down.

"You're a fool, boy," she said, getting up with difficulty.

"Danny-" Jazz yelled. He turned around to look at her, and was shocked to see she was crying.

Blazes of electricity shot through him and he fell to his knees in pain. Glowing slightly, he turned around.

The Knight was smiling triumphantly, holding the sword in her hands with glee.

"Now you have no choice, but to obey me." She smiled. "Arise."

Danny couldn't feel his legs getting up, or remembering to tell them to get up, but suddenly he was standing in front of her, completely uncontrollable.

"When you return my horse, I'll let her go and then finish you, but right now, you will lead me to her."

She faded out the window and like he was tied to strings, pulled with her

"DANNY!" Jazz screamed.

"Let go of me," Jazz screamed to the guard.

"You heard Maestro Linwidge, when the ghost child returns the horse, you will be set free," he replied.

"Yeah, well I don't play that way." She escaped his grasp and did a drop kick, knocking the guy over, and then ran for her life.

Down the huge, black onyx staircase, and out the brass doors, she ran out onto the street, and as fast as she could to her house.

Her only hope was that it wasn't too late.


	4. Struggle

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Chapter Four

Struggle

"Hey, Danny!" Jack said. "Who's your friend? Does she want to know about the latest experiment we Fentons have created?"

"Not right now Jack. Hello Danny, and this would be?" Maddie Fenton asked, stepping up level with Jack.

"This is S-"he began, until she prodded him in the back. "This is Amber, she's my tutor for Biology."

"Hi Amber, we're Danny's parents. Danny sweetheart, we were just leaving for the night. There's a ghost seminar being held near Durling. We'll be gone for a while, promise not to stay out late, okay? In by ten this means," Maddie lectured.

"Yeah, mom."

"We'll leave you two alone to study. See you tomorrow morning. Bye!" Jack said. He and Maddie, holding hands, walked out the door and closed it sharply.

"Nice people. Nice obviously wasn't passed onto you; otherwise you would have never taken my horse or the sword away, would you have?"

She didn't wait for an answer, and instead prodded him in the back again. "Let's go!"

He lead her down into his parents' lab and she threw him onto the floor hard. Blinking stars from his eyes, he quickly bounced back up angrily.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter. Release Paderaina."

"Release me, and I'll do it easier."

"Don't think I'm stupid boy, I know exactly what you have in your mind. Release her _now._" She pointed roughly to the portal and he felt a jolt in his legs, forcing him towards the opening.

With regret, he pushed the green button once more, and closed his eyes.

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_"Hey mom, have you seen Danny?" Jazz asked. She hadn't seen her brother in a couple of hours. Her parents were working on a bunch of math problems that had to do with their newest invention, that she didn't really care about._

_ "No, last I saw he was in our lab. He might have gone with Tucker or Sam though," Maddie replied. _

_ "Hmm....okay." She was bored, had all of her homework finished, and wanted to hang out with Danny and annoy him for a while._

_ A sudden jolt came from downstairs, and shook the entire house. _

_ "Jack what that a ghost?" Maddie asked._

_ "Only one way to find out!" he said, already running down there._

_°°°°°_

_ Danny didn't know where he was, but all he knew was that every part of his body hurt like hell, and he was lying down on something extremely cold. He didn't want to open his eyes, but decided to despite his body's objection._

_ If he had been standing up, he would have jumped out of his skin. He sat up. Why in the heck was he here? Where was here?_

_ Then he remembered. His parents' new invention; the Fenton Ghost Portal, the circuits, the flashing lights._

_ He stood up, shakily. His muscles felt like lead, but otherwise he felt fine. He pushed back his jet black hair with his hand._

_ Except it wasn't his hand he saw. Or was it....? He raised it, and it moved when he did. It was definitely his arm. But it was covered in a silver glove._

_ For the first time since he woke up he looked at his body. Holding back a scream, he bit his lip in shock. Both hands were covered in a pair of silver gloves, his feet were hidden beneath two silver boots that went up to his shins, he had a silver belt around his waist, a silver neck collar, and the rest was totally black._

_ Eagerly, he ran to his parents' mirror, just outside of the portal. _

_ He had snow-white hair, same shape, just a vivid white. His eyes were normal, at least one thing was the same. He blinked, shaking his head. Maybe this was all a dream. And when he opened his eyes, it would be the same again. _

_ He counted to three and his eyes burst open. _

_ Same silver and black outfit, same white hair... and now glowing green eyes._

_ "Danny?" Jazz yelled, pounding down the stairs after her parents._

_ But he was thinking so hard he didn't hear them coming closer. Lights flashed around him, and he looked up at the ceiling of the portal for where they were coming from._

_ "Danny, what are you doing down here?" Maddie asked, stepping up to him._

_ "Guys, I know this looks weird. But I don't know how it happened. I was just here and I was-"he began._

_ "Danny, you fixed the portal!" Jack yelled._

_ "Yeah, the cord wasn't plugged in...but wait-"He looked into the mirror. Jet black hair, blue eyes. _

_ "What son?" Maddie asked, holding her son's shoulders._

_ "Nothing." Wow that was a weird dream._

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He opened his eyes, and the portal doors slid open.

"Where is she?" the knight demanded.

Danny jumped and smiled. He couldn't let her know what for though.

"Where is she?" he repeated.

"I don't know, I swore I put her in here, maybe we should go looking for her," Danny said, shivering at his own daring words. He remembered the last time he had gone in there. He had gotten caught by a warden and thrown into ghost jail, not to mention with every ghost he had captured. But he had escaped that.

There was absolutely no reason why he couldn't now.

He slowly inched towards the Fenton thermos, slowly, so he wouldn't see him. He hadn't had the time to put the ghost horse back into the ghost zone, so he had left it inside the thermos, which was now lying only three feet away.

She whistled for the horse, and Danny sped his pace.

"Danny!" someone yelled from upstairs. Danny lunged for the thermos as the knight turned around at Jazz's voice.

"I'm going ghost!" he yelled. Two beams of glowing blue light spread from his stomach to opposite directions.

He grabbed the thermos, and opened it, trapping the ghost, caught off guard, inside.

Screaming, he swirled inside, and was sucked in. Snapping the lid on, Danny smiled gratefully. He jumped at a sudden noise in front of him.

A girl lay at the foot of the portal, unconscious. He rushed to her, and changed from ghost to human.

"Sam?" he said, warily. He shook her, and her eyes fluttered open.

"Danny!" she said, weak, but happily. He smiled at her.

"Danny?" Jazz pounded down the lab stairs, along with Tucker.

"Jazz! Are you alright?" he asked, using all the limit of strength he had to not rush to her, and stay with Sam.

"Dude, what happened?" Tucker asked, walking along with Jazz.

"How did you get here?" Danny asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Jazz was all panicked, running down the street like a chicken with its head cut off, and she said you were in trouble."

Tucker received dark looks from Jazz and Danny both. How in the heck was he going to explain all of this to her?

"Danny, I think I should get home," Sam said, sitting up with difficulty.

"Here, Tucker and I will help you," he said.

"No, I think I can do it," she said.

"Here," Danny said, holding his hand out to help her.

"No, I've got it." She used both hands to lift herself, and stood up. Swaying slightly, she took careful steps away from them and began walking towards the stairs.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Sam said, not smiling.

"Wait, Sam I'll go with you," Tucker said. Danny began to follow, but someone laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry to say this, but Danny, I don't think she wants you," Jazz said.


	5. Cold

Hey, I wanted to thank my reviewers- especially since this is my first fan fic- so you're great! Also, I forgot to add my disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. By the way, I DID NOT COPY the new episode Fright Knight. I honestly had no idea—and my story line is totally different.

Chapter Five

Cold

Jazz hated seeing the hurt expression on her brother's face. But she read Sam like a book. Sam was scared, and it had something to do with being around Danny. She wished that her young brother would tell her his secret....but like their father, he was stubborn and just weird....

"Danny?" she asked.

He stared at her as though he just noticed her being there, and his eyes widened.

"Um...."

"Danny, I'm sorry, I just don't think she wanted to talk to you," Jazz said, hating herself for saying it, to elude his mind off the real problem. She wished he would confess; it would get a load off his chest.

"That's not what I me-," he began. He sighed. "You're probably right, I shouldn't have shoved her."

"What?" Jazz asked, confused.

"When you saw us in her room, we were fighting and it was getting out of hand. You know how it is. Anyway, I got angry and I shoved her."

Jazz sighed. Her brother wasn't very good at lying for sure. But it was his story and he was sticking to it. She looked at her brother and her eyes caught something. Danny didn't realize it, but half of his arm had disappeared.

"Well, you two should apologize tomorrow. Don't let a good friendship go to waste," Jazz said. "I have to go upstairs and study some more." She waved quickly and began to turn back upstairs. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Danny try to wave and then realize his arm was gone.

She walked up the stairs and up to her room, wondering whether or not Danny was ever going to be honest with her.

â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢

_Well my life is just great, _Danny thought, forcing his arm to become visible again. He really hoped Jazz hadn't seen it.

His best friend went weird suddenly, his body hurt like heck, and he just lied to his sister. All of it had to do with his ghost powers.

"Why can't I be normal?" Danny yelled. He fell to his knees, put his hands to his ears and yelled as loud as he could.

Without a battle cry, he went ghost and phased upstairs and into the night, flying freely to get rid of the thoughts in his head.

But even that didn't work.

--------------------

"Have you seen Sam?" Danny asked Tucker the next morning at school. He hadn't slept at all and there were dark circles beneath his eyes.

Tucker paused before he answered. "No, not today....listen Danny?

"Yeah?" Danny asked, cringing at what he thought Tucker might say, if he was right.

"She said she didn't really want to see you today... the ghost thing kind of freaked her out."

Danny looked down sadly. He wished he knew what Sam was angry about. He couldn't imagine a life without her...even though that life was sometimes crazy. Ember had sure changed his thoughts about her spell or no....maybe everyone was right...maybe Danny did like her. She was pretty, smart, independent...

"Danny? Are you alright?"

Danny ignored Tucker. What if he confessed his feelings to Sam? She might forgive him, and they could go as a couple...

"Danny? Hello?" Tucker rapped on his head and finally snapped him out of it. "Dude, you alright?"

"I'll talk to you later, okay Tuck?" Danny said, slipping his books into his locker and closing it.

"O....kay..." Tucker said, even though Danny couldn't hear him.

Danny just hoped that his confession wasn't too late.

-------------

Sam closed her locker with bare effort. She was dressed in blue jeans and a black fish net shirt, a little different, but still black. Her mind swirled with thoughts. She turned around and gasped.

"Sam...I was hoping we could talk," Danny said, his blue eyes level with hers.

"I don't want to Danny. I'd just like to be left alone," she said. He paused for a minute, as though thinking, and Sam began to walk away.

"Wait...Sam...please, hear me out." She sighed and stopped.

"I- I've been thinking...a lot. And I was wondering-"

"Wondering what?" she said with little expectation.

"If you would like to my girlfriend..." There he said it. Her eyes grew big, and sparkled for a minute and then fell.

"What?" Danny asked.

"Sorry, but I don't think so," she said. She began walking down the hall again.

"Wait! Sam, I'm sorry...." Danny said, desperately. He followed her as she walked.

"Sorry? Sorry for what? You don't even know what you're apologizing for!" she shouted.

"I know, so why don't you tell me?" Danny shouted back angrily.

"What, gonna ghost on me?" Sam asked.

For a minute, Danny was confused. Then he felt the burning in his eyes.

"That's what we're arguing about?" Danny asked, catching on at last.

"Yes. I did some thinking last night. We're always fighting ghosts. We've never gotten anything good from it. You've gotten hurt and we've all had problems with the expression of our feelings. Tucker got jealous of you and you both got in a fight, Ember caused us to like each other-"

"Me to like you, you mean," Danny corrected.

"Yeah. Danny don't you get it? We'll never be happy with all these ghosts," Sam sighed. She stopped walking and he stood in front of her.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore. Just leave me alone, please....." She walked off.

He sighed miserably, remaining behind. His mind shuffled through thoughts. There was only really one thing to do, something that would make her comfortable to be around him again.

He had to get rid of his ghost powers.


	6. To Catch A Ghost

Hi, I'm going to pretend that the episode Fright Night never happened so things are not repeated from the show. Thanks to my reviewers again. I warn you now, this is the longest chapter, but I hope you enjoy reading it.

Chapter Six

To Catch A Ghost

Danny stood at the edge at the edge of his parents' invention. It was now or never and it had to be now. He couldn't spend his entire life without Sam.

"Dude, chill out, you'll be fine. We've fought ghost in the ghost zone before," Tucker said. Danny hadn't told him the real reason why he was going in.

"Yeah, and both times were horrible. I only, you know got thrown in jail and was crushed beneath Kempler in below freezing temperature," Danny said, cringing. "Okay, you watch the web cam. I think I'll be alright. Get in the Specter Speeder if-"

"I know.....I know. We've done it before remember?" Tucker said.

Danny didn't say anything. He was thoroughly depressed. He'd had his ghost powers all of three months; he'd had Sam since kindergarten. And he was finally getting good at ghost hunting and fighting. But it wasn't worth it anymore. There were other ghost hunters in the country; one less wouldn't make a real big difference. If it won Sam's heart again, it was definitely worth it.

"Dude, Danny. It's okay, Sam's just upset. It won't last long," Tucker said. Danny was amazed at how well his best friend read him so well. He was also amazed at how for once, his words actually helped.

He smiled, pretending to be okay. "I'll see you." Danny waved to him and flew off into the ghost zone. Tucker began to close the door behind him, watching the visuals Danny's camera was giving him of the zone.

"Hey Tucker!"

Tucker yelled and flipped around. Jazz stood inches from him.

"Jazz....hi.....what are you doing here?" Tucker said, carefully hiding his PDA from her view.

"Came to see what you were doing down here. Where's Danny?" Jazz said.

"He had to go to the bathroom," Tucker lied.

"Oh, okay. Oh, wow! I've never seen the portal open before, I mean, open like that." She walked up to it and stood in front of it.

"We were messing around. I'll close it now. Just don't tell Danny's parent on us."

"I won't. As long as you leave it open," Jazz demanded.

"What?" Tucker asked.

"I want to see in the portal. I've never actually seen it before this clearly. I'll close it when I'm done," Jazz said, not tearing her eyes away.

"Okay," Tucker said uneasily. "I'll just go upstairs," he whispered, nearly running up the stairs.

Jazz sighed. She knew perfectly well that Danny wasn't in the bathroom. Which meant he was probably in the portal somewhere.

All day he had looked terrible. She could see exhaustion and sadness in his eyes and when he had gotten home, there had been a longing look there as well. She didn't know how to help him.

She stared hard into the portal filled with its creepy noises and spooks.

"Wherever you are, please be careful Danny."

----------------------------

Danny floated slowly through the ghost zone. He hadn't a clue how he was supposed to get rid of his powers. Maybe Skulker could help him. He laughed at the thought. Skulker wouldn't help unless you thought trying to kill him was helping.

He'd never been this far into the ghost zone this deep before. It was darker compared to the bright zones behind him.

"Danny? Where are you?" Tucker asked, voicing his own thoughts.

"No idea," Danny replied.

"I had to go in your room. Jazz came downstairs. But I don't think she suspected anything."

Danny hoped not. It was all he needed was for his older sister to discover his secret. She would probably take Sam's view and never talk to him again.

He stopped flying as he heard a commotion about twenty feet away from him to his left. It looked like some kind of marketplace. Ghosts bustled around under tents shouting sales, while other ghosts walked around, looking at the items. Maybe he could find something here......He floated towards it.

"Sorry Tuck," he said quietly. He took the mic from his ear and flipped the off switch. He was on his own now.

There was no turning back.

He set his feet on the rock, beginning to walk. He passed a tent selling amulets, weapons, and ghost related technology he didn't even think Technes could compete with. Several auctions were going on and Danny frequently heard sale announcements through the whole market.

He froze when he heard a familiar voice.

"Listen to me dipstick or you'll end up living in a hell like the others."

Ember's voice was loud and cruel. She carried her guitar around, yelling at what reminded Danny of a mini Tucker ghost.

His mind swirled. How many other of his enemies were here? Had he misjudged the condition of the market?

He backed up and walked into an old woman ghost. The woman was extremely old and had white curly hair and shriveled skin and eyes that were filled with white smokiness.

"I'm sorry," Danny said hurriedly.

"I have the answer to what you seek," she said hoarsely.

Danny was surprised. "What?"

"Come with me and I'll help you with your problems," she said, turning to walk away.

He followed her, confused, but intrigued. She led him to a tent filled with herbs and parts that made Danny ill to look at.

"How did you know that I had a problem?" Danny asked.

She walked behind the table. "I am a very perceptive woman. Call me psychic if you wish. Now what do you need?"

"I thought you knew because you were psychic," Danny pointed out.

"Do you want help or not?" she asked, annoyed.

He nodded and sighed. "I have these powers. I'm half human, half ghost. But I'm tired of living that way. I want to be human and that's it," he said.

"To impress a girl," she suggested.

"That's not your business," Danny declared. He wanted all the help he could get, but she was asking too many personal questions.

"Very well, keep your secrets. I always wondered when I would meet the halfa," she said, staring at him creepily.

"Can you help me?" he asked desperately, ignoring her.

"The potion you ask for requires two hours to make. I'll make you a month's supply. You must drink it everyday, your powers will return if you don't. But this potion also requires a price...."she added.

"Name it," he said excitedly, but reluctantly.

"Fifteen dollars for every month. You come back in two hours with the money, and I'll have it ready," she said.

Danny felt like he was getting off too easily. Fifteen dollars wasn't a lot, yet he didn't have any change. But it wasn't like he couldn't borrow it. And how did he know he could trust her?

"Come back in two hours," she repeated.

He nodded and walked off, cheerful and morose at the same time if it was possible.

"Well, well. Look who we have here. It's the love sick halfa," said a voice.

Danny turned around.

"Hello, dipstick. Come back for more hunting?" Ember said, smiling. She looked behind him, her blue flamed hair swooshing. "What? No thermos? Surely you came prepared?"

He leapt up and dropkicked her, sending her reeling to the hard, rock ground.

She stood up angrily and grabbed her guitar from around her waist. It didn't light up like Danny had witnessed before and Ember disappeared.

He flew as fast as he could towards the market's exit, trying to turn back on the microphone in his ear.

"Tucker?" he yelled, zooming past.

"Danny, where are you?" Tucker asked, concerned. It was only a minute until he reached the edge of the ghost zone to his parents' portal.

"Of course he's fighting ghosts. I'm not surprised," said a voice.

"Sam?" Danny asked hopefully.

He yelled in pain as his brief moment of surprise ended, and something hard cut into his shoulder. The mic fell from his hands and into the void below him.

Ember laughed, hovering a few feet beside him. He fell freely, until he hit the hard ground of the pit of the ghost zone.

He looked at his shoulder. It was bleeding heavily, the gash deep. If he didn't hurry, he would probably change back to his normal self soon. He stood up and noticed Ember, still floating above him, and he could see his own blood splattered on the guitar.

He didn't want to fight or "chat" anymore. He went invisible and intangible and flew towards the exit.

And was greatly shocked when she didn't follow.

He sighed, relieved, and phased through his parents' portal.

------------------------

"Ow....ow!" Danny tried hard not to yell in pain. Tucker was helping wrap a bandage around Danny's shoulder, which was to his surprise, deeper than it looked. It hadn't stopped bleeding, and he was beginning to feel slightly dizzy, but didn't say anything. But the flow had slowed at least.

"Well, if you would hold still," Tucker said. "I'm almost done, and I'm still waiting for an explanation."

There was a knock on the door.

"Danny? Are you in there?" Maddie Fenton asked.

"Yes mom," Danny called back. Tucker remained silent.

"What are you doing?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"I'm just cleaning up mom," he replied.

"Sam's left," Maddie said.

"Okay." He sighed sadly. He had to wait one hour to go back into the ghost zone. One hour before he would be human, and Sam would accept him again.

"Have you seen Jazz?" Maddie asked.

"No," Danny replied, annoyed. Tucker finished wrapping him up and he put his bloodstained shirt back on quickly.

"Alright, Tucker will have to go home soon too, dinner's almost ready," she said. "And clean up after you're done in there."

"Okay," he said again. He heard her walk down the hall and he opened the door a little. If his mom saw his shirt, she would ask questions, and he couldn't handle that.

"She's gone," Danny said, opening the door fully.

They rushed to his room quietly and shut the door behind them.

"What happened Danny?" Tucker asked seriously.

Danny closed his eyes. His arm hurt like hell, along with a migraine that was forming. He looked down, preparing to answer.

"Come on, I know you man. This is something big, I can tell," Tucker said, standing in front of him.

"And how's that?" Danny joked.

"Because you only avoid my eyes when you're hiding something," he said. "Come on, tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing. Ember just got the best of me that's all," Danny half-lied.

"Ember?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah, I probably went into her lair or something," he said.

"Danny, I'm starting to wonder if Sam's right. Maybe ghost hunting is starting to get old. Maybe we need to focus on something that won't get us killed. Think about it okay?" Tucker said.

"Tucker, wait," Danny shouted as his friend opened the door.

"We've already waited too long Danny," he said. He left, slamming the door behind him.

"Well, you don't have to wait anymore."

----------------------

"Jazz?" He entered the room before she answered. She looked up, apparently found, from the book she was reading and stared at him expectantly.

"I don't have some spare change right now. Can I borrow fifteen dollars?" he asked, sweetly, closing the door behind him.

She nodded. "As long as you pay me back."

Danny stood frozen. What, no questions? Jazz questioned _everything._

"It's over there," Jazz said, staring at him.

Again he didn't move.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, looking at him oddly.

"You don't care?" Danny asked.

"Have I ever?"

"Yes."

"Well now I don't. I just want to be paid back."

"Cool." He walked over to her dresser and opened her data bank. She watched, making sure he only took fifteen.

Then she asked the question.

"What do you need it for?"

He paused for a minute, thinking of an excuse. "It's kind of personal," he replied. He mentally slapped himself. That was the best thing he could think of?

She pursed her lips. "Okay....."

He closed the drawer. "Sorry Jazz, I really can't explain it," he said. He turned to face her, keeping his expression as calm as possible.

"One of these days I'm going to figure you out. At the moment you scare me sometimes. But okay," she said.

Danny didn't like the way that sounded, whatever it meant. He backed out of the room, leaving Jazz to her book.

He leaned up against the wall. What did Jazz mean? She didn't know his secret surely.

He had been careless one time. One time. But that time was when Spectra the ghost who had posed as the school's therapist who was feeding on the students she saw's miseries. He had been forced into sessions with her by Jazz and the principal, Mr. Lancer.

Spectra and her assistant, Bertrund, had plotted to kill Jazz and then leave Danny to blame, but he had captured both ghosts and saved Jazz with her help.

She hadn't acted like she knew.... He shook his head. He was being paranoid. Jazz didn't know his secret.

He focused and went ghost, phasing through the floor to the lab. He had told his parents he didn't feel good, so he was safe from them.

And now for the thing he was dreading.

---------------------------------

The psychic ghost handed him a vial out of a velvet lined box filled with fourteen others. He looked at it; it was an odd purple and red color.

He had been lucky so far. Ember hadn't showed up to meet him again, or any other of his past enemies. But he was still looking around for the musical powered girl.

"Take it everyday until they're gone. Then come back and I'll give you more," the ghost urged again. Her colorless eyes were starting to creep him out, and she looked at him oddly.

"How do I know this works?" he said, his eyes narrowed. He didn't like the way she was looking at him. He knew that smile. He was being tricked. She was going to let him take it home and rip him off, the potion didn't really work; but he could play that game. He would test it out first and see if it truly worked.

"You don't. I see your mind; an old woman such as myself does not play the trickster. Try it if you like, you won't be unhappy," she said, glaring at him.

"Don't mind if I do," he said, unscrewing the lid.

He took a drink and tried hard to keep it in his mouth. He couldn't describe the taste; all he knew was that it was disgusting. He swallowed roughly.

There was a flash of light, beginning from the top of his head that traveled all the way down to the ground. He could see his normal hand. Maybe he was paranoid. Not all ghosts were evil right?

"Well, sorry I accused you. Thanks," he said.

"You're a fool boy," she said.

She was no longer in front of him. He turned around, and she stood behind him, her pupiless eyes poring into him.

She smiled darkly and snapped her fingers. "Wouldn't you like to meet my servants?"

Two ghosts appeared beside her.

"We've been acquainted," Ember said. She and Desiree, the wish granting ghost stood behind her, smiling at him.

"And don't try anything funny this time," Desiree warned.

"Wait Desiree, he can't."

Danny backed up and something sharp poked into his back. He flipped around and the psychic woman was standing there, holding a knife up to him.

Ember continued speaking.

"Because his powers are gone."

--------------------------------

Okay, long chapter, I know. This story has two chapters left, and I like to give my readers a foreshadow, so their names are Sword Strike and Mending, coming sometime this month. Also please, please, please, check out my other stories, including the newest The Rebel.

Lateraina Wolf


	7. Sword Strike

Wow, I feel so slow. But it's hard saying goodbye to this story, as this is the next to last chapter before it ends. But, enough tears, here's to my reviewers:

Alex: Thank you for your review. I love reviews like yours. Sam's feelings are definitely turned more resenting because she just gets tired of everything. She wants Danny to be normal and he knows he can never do that.

Stargazer920: I remembered. It's all part of the story that comes later. But thanks for noticing that anyway.

Divagurl277, Kats02980416, Bunny Girl

The Fuzy Llama: Every time you review me, you crack me up. I swear it's the highlight of my day to read some of your reviews

Thanks to all! Here's chapter seven!

Chapter Seven- Sword Strike

Danny backed away, slightly relieved. They couldn't harm him here. This was the ghost zone, somewhere humans were ghosts.

"You think that do you boy?" the psychic ghost asked, walking towards him. "You think that all my potion did was take away your powers? You've got another thing coming."

Ember struck first, her guitar swinging towards him. He jumped backwards, but it ended up barely brushing him.

He gasped. The ghost woman had put something else in the potion; now he could be touched in the ghost zone. He had been a fool; tricked by his own gullibility and stupidity.

He turned around and began running the other direction. But before he got four steps, Desiree appeared in front of him, smiling darkly.

He backed away and felt two hands on his shoulders before he was thrown into onto the ground. He rolled over and yelled. Pulling back just in time before he went over the ledge of the marketplace's grounds. He stood up, staring into the dark oblivion that lie beneath him.

A cold chill went down his back and he flipped around to see Ember and Desiree surrounding him. He couldn't move forward, and couldn't go backwards. Which was what their plan exactly was.

"See you later ghost kid," Desiree taunted.

"We knew we'd get sweet revenge sometime," Ember chanted with her. She lay her hand on her guitar strings while Desiree prepared to strike herself, placing her hands out in front of her.

Danny jumped backwards as there was a flash of light. He felt himself fall and swung his hand out. Capturing it on it something hard and sharp, he gripped a large jagged rock.

He hung onto the rock, his legs swinging back and forth in the air. Reaching up, he tried to get his other hand to latch onto another section of the rock, but it crumbled away.

Suddenly, his feet hit something beneath him. He looked down, distracted, to see something large pull up underneath. The rock fell away and he landed on top.

The side door of the Specter Speeder opened. Danny jumped down, back flipping into the center of the Speeder. But even his basic skills were gone and he barely managed to get inside.

He looked up and saw Ember staring at him angrily.

"Tucker, drive!" he yelled, not bothering to see if it was him driving.

The Specter Speeder shot forward and Danny swaggered backwards with the sudden jolt of force. There was a hand in his face.

"Need a hand?" Tucker asked. Danny grabbed onto it and swung himself up.

"Tucker? Then who's-" he started. He looked up and saw Sam's amethyst eyes in the rearview mirror, staring back at him. And he couldn't help but notice that they showed signs of definite concern.

"What are you doing?" Tucker asked.

Danny closed the door of the Specter Speeder, but before he could answer there was a crashing noise above him and he was thrown back against the wall.

He looked up and saw a deep cut into the ceiling of the vehicle, and through the crack, he could see Desiree's red eyes staring back at him.

"Sam, drive faster!" he yelled.

"I don't know how," she said shakily as the thing jolted again.

Tucker staggered up to the front. "You help Danny in back, I'll drive!" Still holding onto the wheel tightly, Sam climbed out of the seat and was replaced by him. He took the wheel and the Speeder shot off again.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I was going to ask you the same question. What's going on?" she asked.

There was a whooshing noise and the door to the Specter Speeder opened, Ember smiling evily at them.

Danny held onto one of the ceiling rails, feeling his body sucked outside with sudden and strong force. He closed his eyes, only to snap them open again when he heard a piercing scream.

"Danny! Help!" Sam shouted.

All he could see was her hand, hanging by an inch on the floor. Without caring about his own life, Danny dropped down to the floor and curled his feet around the back of the door.

Sam screamed and her hand let go.

He caught her, holding on tightly. With the strength he had left he pulled her up and then latched onto her other hand, and brought her back into the zooming vehicle.

"Danny, go ghost and get them away from us," Tucker suggested, as the Speeder jolted again.

"I can't," he said, looking above.

"Huh?" Sam asked.

"Look, there's the Fenton Portal up there," Danny pointed. His parents' portal loomed ahead, only about twenty feet.

But as the Specter Speeder jerked again, it began to slow down.

"What's happening?" Danny asked.

"It's running out of gas," Tucker exclaimed.

"Can we make it?" Sam asked, worried.

"Yeah, sure if they don't hit us again. Fat chance for that though," he replied, staring out the side windows. But the two female ghosts didn't come after them. Instead Ember threw up her arms and something flew towards them.

A box phased through the ceiling and landed with a clink on the floor of the Specter Speeder. On it was a large parchment note.

Sam picked it up first and read it aloud.

"Take everyday. The bottles will refill themselves so you won't ever have to come back. Never come back or we will kill you."

"Danny, what does this mean?" she asked.

"It's a long story," he said reluctantly. He rubbed his sore shoulder, which now felt like it was on fire. At least some good things came from this. Sam, well, at least acted like she had forgiven him, and he had gotten away…..for now.

"And now we have time," Tucker said from up front. He pulled into the portal and parked inside the Fentons' lab.

Turning off the ignition, he looked backwards.

Danny took a deep breath, looking at their expectant faces and sighed. "I got rid of my ghost powers," he said at last.

There was a moment of silence then-

Sam and Tucker burst out laughing.

"That's a good one Danny. How long have you spent on that one?" Tucker asked, still cracking up.

"Well, I've been thinking. And I figured since you know, everything that's happened to us, we deserve a break. Sam, you were right, I can't spend the rest of my life fighting ghosts. I have to worry about my future. And Tucker, you were right too….you guys have been waiting a long time, so now we have it," he said.

The laughter stopped instantly.

"Wait, you were serious?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah," Danny said.

"But, why?" Sam asked.

"I thought it would make you happy," he said, exasperated.

"I didn't mean-- So, you got rid of your ghost powers because of me?" she asked.

"You said you were tired of ghosts. I was doing what I thought _you _wanted. And maybe I'll miss it, but I think I can handle it."

"Again, I didn't mean it that way."

"So what did you mean?"

"I don't, I don't know," she said. "But not this. Remember I said, your powers make you unique, and unique is good? Just because I was tired of them, doesn't mean-"

"Look, I was trying to make you happy. I want to know why you aren't," he said.

"You don't get it do you?" she yelled. "You don't understand what it's like to be trapped inside somewhere, where you can't breathe, you can't get out. It feels like you're dying. You don't know what that's like!"

"Oh, I don't?" he asked sarcastically.

"You're a ghost. You were a ghost. It was different. This was different. Because now it's me, and you don't know what that's like."

"I would if you would tell me," he demanded angrily.

"And why should I tell you? What I do with my life, is no longer your business," she said. She opened the door of the Specter Speeder hard and jumped out, then stormed off.

Danny yelled in frustration and sunk down to the ground. This was what he got from living two lives? Anger, yelling, resentment. He couldn't be Danny Phantom anymore. This change was for the best. Sam would see that….she had to sooner or later.

"So, back there, you didn't-" Tucker began to ask.

"No, Tucker," he said.

"Danny, look. I don't know how you two are feeling. I honestly don't. But it's late. We should just sleep on it and worry about it later," he suggested.

Danny hadn't heard a better plan. Tucker climbed in back and held out his hand again. Danny took it and stood up. They climbed out.

"Listen to what I said. I'll talk to Sam," he said. He smiled awkwardly at his friend. "I'm sorry about your powers."

"Don't worry about it. It's probably for the best," Danny replied. Again, the usual immature Tucker's words were helping.

They walked up the stairs. They didn't notice a pair of eyes watching them.

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"Danny, are you alright?" Maddie asked when she got home three hours later. He jumped, totally zoning out. His red haired mother came and sat down beside him and placed a hand to his forehead. "You're awfully warm. Do you feel okay?"

Jack Fenton came in, watching them from the entrance to the living room.

"Not really," Danny replied sadly.

"Why don't you go to bed? It's almost three o'clock. I'll call the school tomorrow and tell them you're not coming. You look terrible hunny," she said.

He nodded, biting his lip.

Maddie stood up and ran her fingers through his hair. "Come on, sweetie." He leaned onto her and walked upstairs.

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Danny slept in the next day until six in the evening. He opened his eyes and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Jazz sitting on his bed.

"Jazz," he groaned, rolling over.

"Sorry. Didn't think you would wake. Mom and dad are going to _another _convention tonight. They said tonight was the last night. Yeah right," she said. She coughed, pressing a hand to her throat.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Define okay," she said, laughing. "I think you're getting me sick."

"I'm not sick," Danny announced.

"So you stayed home for no reason?" she asked.

"Never mind."

"Again. I don't get you. One of these days perhaps I will," she said.

"Did you find your Geography book?" he asked, determined to change the subject.

"What?"

"Your Geography book. You came in here and accused me of taking it remember?" he said.

"Oh, oh yeah. Forgot. Yeah, I did." She stood up. "I'm going to make some dinner. Would you like some?"

"Nah, I've got some things to do," he said.

"Okay…….Guess it's dinner for one," she said, fake laughing. "Well, come down if you want something," she said. She waved and left the room.

He crawled out of bed and pulled on a new shirt, staring down at the blood stained one he wore yesterday. He had to take some more of that potion; it was nearly the time it had been yesterday when he had gone into the ghost zone to look.

Rushing downstairs to the lab, he pulled open the door of the Specter Speeder and the box still lay untouched where it had been. This was probably the safest place to keep it for now; to be sure he hid it underneath one of the seats in front, but before took out a vile.

He looked at his watch. Since it was only five minutes after six, he still had an hour and fifteen minutes before he could take the next one.

One minute down…..

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An hour and fifteen minutes later, Danny stood by the kitchen sink, holding the glass vile in front of him. He twirled it, watching the creepy looking liquid, back and forth between his palms.

"Here goes," he whispered. He downed the vile, resisting the urge to spit out the revolting, disgusting tasting drink.

He swallowed with difficulty and tossed the vile into the garbage can. He headed down to the lab, again unaware of the eyes watching him.

The portal's doors were closed, but that didn't stop him from opening it. He stared out at the zone, and what used to freak him out, now amazed him. He could truly see it without actually looking for ghosts. But it was cold, and he shivered.

"What are you doing?" asked a voice.

Danny turned around to see Jazz staring at him at the bottom of the stairs. She walked over to him, looking inside the Ghost zone.

"It's pretty isn't it?" she asked.

"You've seen it?"

"Duh. I was just down here yesterday. It's pretty cool and peaceful. So she says," she said.

"Who?"

"What?" she asked, staring at him.

"You said, so she says, what did you mean?"

"Oh. I did? Damn," she said, staring down at her fingernails. She looked up and threw her arm out, catching Danny in the chest and throwing him backwards.

She turned to face him. "It amazes me how idiotic your family is. This poor girl was just standing there watching. Dangerous thing to do. Especially when one's taking out his revenge," she said evily.

"You're the Knight," Danny said, crawling backwards as she kept advancing towards him.

"Catch on quick, don't you?" She closed her eyes and with a flash of green light appeared the sword in her hands.

"So innocent this family is. Well, you weren't. But you are now. And that horrid girl didn't even appreciate what you did for her. What you did for us all," she said.

"So you chose Jazz?" he asked.

"Like I said, she was just standing there, staring into the ghost zone. Didn't see me coming until I was five feet in front of her. Too late to close the portal, too late to do anything but watch and learn as I took over her body." Her voice turned hoarser as she spoke.

"And now it's time for my revenge. Stupid human. You never should have messed with me. Now you're powerless, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

The ghost inside Jazz smiled darkly and held the sword, preparing to strike.

Danny stood up courageously.

"Wanna bet?"

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Yet another cliffhanger. Chapter Eight: Mending, coming soon!

Lateraina Wolf


	8. Mending

Hello fellow readers. I'm back with the last chapter, and I warn you now, Danny and Jazz have a little language, so sorry if I offend you. To my lovely reviewers:

Cakereut12, DannyPhantomLover

The Fuzy Llama: I started cracking up reading your review. My parents yet again thought I was insane.

Thanks for making my first fanfic great!

Chapter Eight

Mending

There were two bright flashes of light and Danny became his ghost form, completely.

"No! You took the potion! I saw you!" Jazz's possesser accused, stepping back a little in angry shock.

Danny smiled. "Seeing is deceiving. I switched the potion with lemon juice. It was sour enough to taste like the potion and the perfect cover up. I figured out who you were when you made Jazz act different and then later on when my ghost sense went off when I was around you, before I took the potion, and I knew."

"No!" the Knight shouted in disbelief at the fact he'd been tricked. But he regained his composure and grinned down at him. "No matter. I can still defeat you." He pulled the sword from out behind him and there was a burst of light as he left Jazz's body and stood in front of him.

The Knight moved first, shooting out a blast of something silver at him. Danny jumped up and it missed, and hit the Knight with a powerful ecto-blast.

He reeled backwards, but remained on his feet, and Danny managed to knock him off his feet with a drop kick.

During that time, a figure began to move on the ground. She opened her eyes and look up at the scene above her, and saw her brother.

"He's okay!" Jazz exclaimed quietly.

A particularly hard hit to Danny sent him reeling back into the wall. He flew over to the middle of the room, searching hurriedly for the Thermos.

And he didn't see the Knight raising his sword.

"Danny! Look out!" Jazz yelled.

Danny gasped, looking down at Jazz. He was in his ghost form….how did she know-

His train of thought was cut off as the Knight's sword's power struck him. He smashed into the wall again, hitting his head against it especially hard. He crumbled to the ground, changing back to his human form, unconscious.

The Knight smiled triumphantly, his enemy defeated. He stared at Jazz and floated to the ground.

"I think I can use you…one more time," he said.

She tried to runaway, but he grabbed onto her arm. She struggled with no use to pull away desperately.

Jazz heard a noise behind her and saw the Knight suddenly sucked into a vortex of blue light.

Sam slammed the lid on the Fenton Thermos hard, breathing heavily.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, but Danny." Jazz rushed over to her unmoving brother.

He lay motionless on the ground, a trickle of blood running down the side of his head. The cut wasn't deep, fortunately.

Jazz sat him up and tapped his face lightly. He grunted and his eyes fluttered open.

He groaned and clutched the side of his head in pain. "What happened?" Sam came into view, sitting down beside Jazz, still holding the Thermos.

"Sam!" he exclaimed.

"Hey, Danny," she said sympathetically. In her other hand was a handkerchief. She pressed it gently to his head's cut.

For the first time, Danny seemed to notice his sister sitting beside him.

"Jazz, I- I," he tried.

"Danny, relax, I know you're a ghost. Even before that ghost possessed me," Jazz admitted.

"That information would have been useful earlier," Danny said, lying back down on the cool lab floor.

Sam laughed, something he suddenly missed.

"Hey, it's late." Jazz checked her watch and wasn't surprised to see it was eleven thirty. "We should clean you up and go to sleep."

"I'd better get home too. I've already freaked out my parents enough lately," Sam said, getting up. "I'll see you tomorrow, Danny." She waved and walked up the stairs.

He honestly didn't want her to leave, but he didn't say anything. She would probably never talk to him after this.

"Come on, little bro. Let's get you fixed up."

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"Ow," Danny complained, cringing as she applied pressure to his head.

"Don't be such a baby," she teased.

"Ow," he said again in mock pain.

"You know if you would quit squirming," she snapped.

"I was being sarcastic. Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?" he joked.

She punched him on the arm. He raised an eyebrow. "That was supposed to hurt?

"You want me to make it hurt?" she yelled.

He laughed and pulled away as she pretended to swing again, then cringed when pain shot through his shoulder. He glanced at it quickly. He knew it'd take a while to heal.

There was a moment of silence in which Jazz washed a blood stained wash cloth in the sink. She sighed.

"What?" he asked.

"It's just that, I wish you would have told me about your powers a long time ago," she explained.

"I thought you would tell someone, or think I was some kind of freak," he said softly.

"Danny!" she exclaimed, slightly guilty. She hugged him and pulled away, and he looked down, blushing a little. "Danny, look at me." His blue eyes finally met hers. "I could never do that. And not just because you're my brother. You are a hero Danny. You put other peoples' lives before yours and whether you're successful or not, try to save them, like you saved me. And no one deserves to be called a freak after that."

He blushed deeper, but still didn't look convinced.

"Listen to me. Some people _do _have problems with this. But Sam needs you and you need her more than you know. She'll come back to you. It might take a while, but she will."

When her brother's pretty blue eyes filled with sadness, she could tell this was a tender subject, and almost felt guilty about bringing Sam up. So she changed the subject hurriedly.

"I also wanted to thank you," she said.

"For what?" he asked, wondering what he had really done.

"I don't usually give you the credit for this, but you must know me more than I thought."

"Are you going to finish that thought or just tell me the end?"

"You could tell that I was different, when that ghost possessed me, even though he tried to do his best to be like me."

"Oh, that. Yeah, well, he wasn't as bitchy as you usually are."

"Yeah, thanks. I love you too," she said, laughing. She finally got him to truly smile, and it seemed to make a difference in what once was his exhausted, depressed facial features.

She clapped her hands together. "You're all cleaned up. We've got school tomorrow, we should probably get to bed."

He jumped off the sink and they walked out of the bathroom.

"Goodnight, Jazz. And thanks," he said sincerely.

"No problem. Just remember what I said," she said. He walked the four paces to his room and Jazz watched as the light flickered on, then two minutes later, off.

Feeling happier than she had in a while, even with the dreary events of the night, she walked to her room, but lingered in the doorway.

"Goodnight Danny."

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"Well, the "new girl" has vanished. It's the talk of the school," Sam said, wearing her usual Goth clothes. She smiled and pulled a strand of black hair out of her face.

Danny looked up from the ground where he was pulling out a Biology book from his bag to see her standing above him, looking at herself in his locker mirror.

Tucker cracked up behind him. "What is up with the inability for us to be popular for longer than five minutes?"

Sam smiled. "I don't know what you're talking about. You were never popular."

Danny burst into laughter, unable to hold it in. Sam smiled mischievously. Tucker laughed sarcastically.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the morning free period, and the warning bell for the first classes.

Tucker began walking to his next class, giving a small wave, to the only subject he didn't have with them, leaving Sam and Danny behind.

Danny shoved his bag into his locker and slammed it shut quickly.

"Listen, Sam, I'd completely understand if you don't want to hang out with me when I'm fighting ghosts. You've been through a lot. But I'd like it if we could stay friends," Danny began uneasily.

"And what? Miss the ghost power progress of Danny Phantom? No way," Sam said. Danny smiled weakly.

"Danny, I should be the one apologizing. I've seen worse. I shouldn't have reacted that way. I was just….in a bad mood I guess," she said.

"So, friends?'

"Now who said that?" she said, smiling.

"What do you mean?" He was confused.

"I think I'd like to take you up on your offer," Sam said. It took a while for Danny to catch on, but when he did, his eyes widened and he looked down, blushing. She took his hand.

"More than friends is more like it."

**The End**

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Ahh….teen love. According to Ember, she says it never lasts. Hope she's wrong. That was pretty sweet between Jazz and Danny, and then Sam and Danny, I liked it. This story also does not have a sequel.

Okay, please read and tell me what you think. Reviewer rewards will be posted in a week.

Lateraina Wolf


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